This week’s Restaurant Spotlight focuses on the great american staple on summer menus: The Burger. More specifically, the Veggie Burger. We are lucky to have a location of The Counter Custom Burgers here in Charlotte outside of Southpark Mall on Sharon Road, and they have arguably one of the best vegan friendly veggie burgers in Charlotte.

The burger mixture is handmade daily at the restaurant, and are made with a brown rice and wheat base mixed with cranberries, carrots, black beans, roasted red peppers and spinach. The buns are probably not vegan, so you can opt to have the burger served on a bed of lettuce instead, or bring your own bun and ask for them to leave theirs off! The burgers come in 1 size, but you can opt to order it in 3 sizes, each size increasing the amount of “patties” on each sandwich. BE CAREFUL and bring your appetite if you attempt a size larger than the smallest one, as they are MASSIVE alone. You can choose four of 17 toppings ranging from your basic lettuce and tomatoes to the more exotic dried cranberries, grilled pineapple or roasted red peppers; and one of 17 sauces (the vegan sauces are: Apricot Sauce, Homemade Guacamole, Peanut Sauce, Red Relish, Roasted Corn & Black Bean Salsa, Soy Ginger Glaze, Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, & Sweet BBQ, plus Mustard & Ketchup). It’s almost too hard to decide what to top your burger with considering all the choices. The burgers are very loose and crumble off the base easily, encouraging the use of a fork! They are moist and very flavorful, without being too overpowering in one taste or another. You can also match your burger with fries, sweet potato fries, or onion strings, or a “hobo pack” which is a nice pack of seasonal veggies and herbs, grilled in foil, totally vegan.

The Counter, Charlotte has a outdoor patio, or indoor seating, and is located outside of Southpark Mall at the corner of Sharon Road and Morrison Blvd. Open at 11am until 10 Monday-Thursday & Sunday, and till 11pm Friday & Saturday.

The restaurant is moderately priced. A typical meal for two, including beverages, could top $40. So be aware of that. Trust us, it’s worth it.